Knight in Shining Armour
by Sailor Elf
Summary: After two car crash victims arrive at the hospital, Doctor Nicholas Kokoris finds himself in the middle of a heated family battle.
1. Incoming Travellers

Disclaimer - Nobody belongs to me. Not even Nick. (Wah) Simple as that. Any original characters are mine. 

Summary - After two car crash victims arrive at the hospital, Doctor Nicholas Kokoris finds himself in the middle of a heated family battle.

Author's Note - Heck, I decided to join in on all the fun here. And I'm sorry if anything seems at all wrong. (Please don't hurt me!) If there is, consider it slight AU.

00000

Knight in Shining Armour

Doctor Nick Kokoris walked down the hallway of the hospital. It had been quiet all day now and he was hoping something would happen to perk up the day. He soon passed Matt.

"Hey Nick," he said.

"Hi Matt. What's happening?" asked Nick.

"If your day has been anything like mine, which is slow and quiet, you'd think this place was a morgue," laughed Matt.

Nick laughed at the statement as he continued to look at the papers in his hands.

"Alright, bad joke. See you later Nick," Matt told him as they continued in the directions they were headed in.

00000

Jules looked down the throat of the young child sitting on the table. His mother stood nearby.

"Alright Sean. It's nothing serious. It looks like strep throat. Take this medication and you'll soon be better," she told him as she helped him down to the floor.

Thanks Doctor," the mother told her before leaving the room.

She waved to the two. She turned around as Nick stopped outside the room. He looked in at her as Rae walked up to him.

"What're you thinking about Nick?" she asked.

"I think about several things Rae. One of them is you," he replied as his pager went off. "Got to go. Work calls."

Rae was slightly surprised at this as he looked her way. He walked away from her, down the hall. She smiled as she watched him.

"You don't surprise me at all Kokoris," she whipsered as she went about her work.

00000

Two paramedics came rushing into the hospital, a young man on the stretcher and a young woman on another one. They were rushed into the emergency room as a couple doctors ran in.

"What's wrong?" asked one.

"Car crash. He has a head injury and a compound fracture in his arm along with several areas where glass went into the skin," one paramedic told them. "She's no better than him though. She's disoriented, concussion possibly, and she probably has two broken wrists and a mildly sprained ankle."

"Alright, let's prep him for the OR to get that bone back into place," another doctor said as they hurried about.

00000

Nick was preparing himself for the upcoming surgery he was to do. Letty stood beside him, shaking her head.

"What's wrong Nick? Is it something about this surgery?" she asked him.

"No, it isn't," he replied, shaking his head.

"Whatever it is, don't let it get in the way now. You've got a patient to work on," she said before heading back to her work.

00000

Several hours later, after the young man was in intensive care, Nick walked out to the waiting room to see the young woman who was with him, sitting in a chair. She was holding her knees to her chest with her arms, both in casts. He knelt down by her.

"Hello there. My name is Nick. What's your name?" he asked.

She just stared at him, one of her eyes sporting a large bruise.

"Sarah. The guy I came in with is my older brother. His name is Patrick," she told him.

"Sarah. That's a nice name. How old are you?" he wondered.

"I'm 15. Patrick's 17. He was driving me to a friend's house when a cat ran across the road and he swerved to get out of the way," she explained.

"That's terrible. Is there anyway I can help you feel comfortable?" he asked.

Sarah shook her head.

"Not at the moment, no thank you," she replied.

"Well, if you need anything, just ask one of the nurses there to get me," he told her.

He put a hand on her shoulder as he stood up and walked away.

00000

Jackie walked up behind him in the break room. She saw he was making himself a cup of coffee.

"Hey Nick. How're you doing?" she asked, startling him and causing him to partially spill his drink.

"Thanks a lot Jackie. I'm good. How can I help you?" he wondered, a smile on his face and his voice laden with unreal happiness.

"I just want to know why you've suddenly taken a liking to the girl out in the waiting room and her brother," she innocently replied with a smile that showed her teeth. "That's all."

Nick gave her a look that said 'I don't believe it' all over.

"Listen, she's young and in a big place with nobody but strangers around her. I wanted her to feel comfortable," he replied.

"I don't believe it. She's got herself a knight in shining armour," she laughed as she hurried out of the room in order to get out of Nick's path.

Nick laughed as he watched her leave.

"She's got some weird sense of humour," he said to himself. "I don't know if she's going to give up on that or not."

00000

The next morning, Nick walked into the hospital to find Sarah asleep in the waiting room. He walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Sarah, wake up," he quietly told her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she rubbed her eyes as she looked at him.

"Good morning sleepy head. You know what? Maybe I can arrange for you to sleep in a more comfortable place. How does that sound? Maybe somewhere near your brother?" he told her.

"That'd be nice. Out here's hard," she told him as she stood up.

Before they could go anywhere, screaming could be heard from the hallway across from them and a man barged into the hospital waiting room.

"Let me through! They're here! I know they are!" he cried.

Security started to escort him out of the hospital. He struggled to free herself from their grasp. A woman walked up behind him.

"They're not here Henry. Let's just goand find them somewhere else," she told him.

The man reluctantly calmed down and started to leave the building when he saw the young girl hiding behind Nick.

"There she is!" he cried as he ran over to them.

"Excuse me but how can I help you?" Nick asked her curiously.

"Move it. She is my problem, not yours. She will be severely punished for this," Henry told him, pushing him out of the way.

"For what? It doesn't seem she knows you," Nick replied, stepping in between the two again.

"She's my daughter, not yours. She and her brother left with the car and now it's trashed. Get out of the way!" Henry demanded.

"I'm not doing that until you prove to me that this is truly your child. As of right now, she had made no indication she knows you at all let alone you being her father," Nick told him.

"That does it. If you won't get out of my way they easy way, I'll use the hard way," the man said, bringing his arm back and punching Nick right in the face.

TBC...


	2. Beware of the Serpent's Bite

Nick's head snapped to the side as the hand connected with his face. He could feel blood trickle down from his nose and mouth when out of nowhere, he felt another punch, this one to the eye. 

"Restrain him!" came a voice.

The man was pulled away from Nick, who put a hand up to his face to feel the blood flowing from his mouth.

"You will pay for this, whoever you are. You don't know what you're up against. We will get them back no matter what it takes," the man angrily told him.

Jackie and Harriet were in another hallway and saw the entire thing occur. The hurried up to Nick and Sarah.

"God Nick, are you alright?" Jackie asked him.

"I'll be fine once I stop the bleeding," he replied, looking at his fingers with the blood on them.

"Here, come with me. I'll help you," Jackie told him. "Harriet, think you can escort this young lady to her brother?"

Harriet nodded as she left with Sarah.

"You know, that was a stupid thing to do," she told him.

Nick stopped in the hallway, causing Jackie to stop as well.

"Jackie, that young girl came here with her brother. There was no mention of either parent or other family until he came in. We can't be certain that they are their parents. For all we know, they could be mentally unstable people, looking for a reason to be here and take them away," Nick told her.

"Fine Mr. I-Know-It-All. How did they know to come to the hospital looking for them? Especially since this wasn't released to the general public yet?" she asked him, crossing her arms.

The two were now in a staring contest until Nick decided to look away.

"I don't know," he quietly replied.

00000

Harriet led Sarah down the hall to the room where her brother was.

"So, Sarah, how old are you?" she asked.

"15. My brother's 17. He's going to be 18 in two days. What a way to celebrate it by being in the hospital," she sighed.

"I agree with you and by the look of it, he's still going to be unconscious by the time it gets here too," Harriet replied as they walked inside to be greeted by Jules.

"Hello Harriet. Sarah, I've been waiting for you," Jules said, smiling at her. "I just want to make sure that there's no new injuries and how your previous ones are doing."

Sarah nodded with a smile.

00000

Matt and Rae were walking down the hallway with Letty.

"So you say that the two who came on yesterday are brother and sister, correct?" asked Matt.

"Yes, they are. She's fine to go but she's not leaving until he is as well. Right now, he's in a coma. It's nothing serious so we can expect it not to be too long," Rae told them.

"Yeah. Wonder what their parents were doing? Letting them go out in the car like that," Letty smirked, looking around the floor.

Her gaze soon came to Jackie and Nick, the latter holding his hand up to his mouth.

"What happened to him?" she wondered.

"To who?" asked Rae as she and Matt turned to look in her direction.

They saw the two and hurried over to them. They saw the blood in his mouth and on his hand.

"What happened to you?" asked Matt, curiously.

Nick opened his mouth to answer but Jackie stopped him.

"No way, no how," she told him, shaking her index finger. "You know those two who came in yesterday? The boy and girl?"

The three glanced at each other before looking back at them and nodded.

"Well, just now, down in the waiting room two people came in, claiming they were their parents and Nick here wouldn't let the man touch her and the result is a couple of swacks in the face. His reasoning is apparently that if those people were truly her parents, she'd be overjoyed and he wouldn't have been as upset as he was," explained Jackie.

Three sets of eyes opened wide.

"Nick, you're more crazy than I ever thought possible. What if those people actually were her parents?" asked Letty, almost screaming.

"She was hiding behind me. What am I supposed to do then? Step out of the way and let her get trampled on? I don't think so," he replied as he headed off into the washroom.

He left the four in a total state of confusion.

00000

He spit out the blood into the sink.

_'The guy certainly knows how to pack a punch,'_ he thought to himself as he raised his head and peered into the mirror.

He gingerly placed a hand on his now sore eye. He could see a bruise starting to appear around the eye already. He cursed before turning around...

Only to find Matt standing there.

"Nick, you're impossible. Do you even realize what you're getting yourself into?" he asked.

"Of course I do. I'm helping a young lady fell comfortable during the stay she has here. I have a feeling that something's going on in that pretty little head of hers and I simply want to help," replied Nick as he walked past Matt.

Matt couldn't help but sigh.

"She reminds you of you, doesn't she? One person in such a big place and pretty much no one to talk to?" he asked.

Nick stopped dead in his tracks and thought about that statement for a moment before he hurried out of the washroom and down the hall.

The three women watched him walk out in a huff.

"Nick, wait," called Matt as he came out of the washroom.

The three watched him go into the distance.

"I think he thinks he's doing the right thing," Rae sadly said.

"And I think we're condemning him for doing whatever he's doing," Letty said.

Nick watched Sarah sit by the still form of her brother. He gave a smile as he walked inside to see her. Her face turned from sad to happy once she saw him.

"Hi Doctor Kokoris," she said. "How're you feeling?"

His eyes widened.

"I never told you my last name. How'd you figure it out?" he wondered.

"I asked. Besides, it was on your nametag," she replied, giving a small laugh.

He also gave a laugh. He suddenly stopped once he realized the reaction would cause him pain.

"He hit you hard, didn't he?" asked Sarah.

"Don't worry, it's not bad," he told her.

There suddenly was silence between the two.

"Listen Sarah, I have to go home now. I'll come and see how you're doing in the morning," he finally told her.

She nodded and watched him head for the door.

"Doctor Kokoris?" she called out to him once he reached it.

He turned around and looked at her again.

"Yes?" he wondered.

"Watch your back. Please," she told him.

He nodded as he started down the hall.

00000

Nick was walking towards his car in the parking lot. He pulled out his keys, preparing to unlock the vehicle once he got to it.

He was almost there when he heard the squealing of tires. Thinking it was some rowdy teenagers outside, he ignored it.

He slowly lifted his head once he realized that the noise was getting closer to him. He swerved around to find a car heading right for him. If it wasn't for the high speed and squealing tires, Nick wouldn't have known it was coming for him.

Nick started to run out of the way, but couldn't. It plowed into him, crushing his leg. He cried out in pain.

TBC...


	3. The Problems

Rae and Letty were walking out to their cars in the semi-darkenss. 

"So how was your day?" Letty asked Rae.

"Same old, same old. People come and they go," she replied with a small smile.

"That's what I like about you. You're always the subtle type of person," laughed Letty.

Suddenly, they heard the screeching of tires and a familiar cry.

"Nick," gasped Rae before they ran to where the noises came from.

The two ran over to see the man lying on the ground near his vehicle and a strange car feet away from him.

"Nick!" the two cried in unison.

The driver and passenger of the car turned their heads towards them before the driver decided to hit the gas and leave the scene in a really big hurry.

The two ran over to the fallen Nick, who was lying completely motionless by his car. The only movement coming from him was his heavy breathing

"Come one, we have to get some help out here. You go get someone," Letty said to Rae.

Rae nodded her head and ran off to get help as Letty talked to Nick.

"I'm here Nick. It's Letty. Someone has gone to get some help now," she told him as she started to hear noises in the distance.

Rae arrived with some other doctors and a stretcher.

00000

Soon, Nick was in the ICU. Sarah couldn't say a thing when she saw him being taken into the room across the hallway from her brother.

Jules walked up the teen, who seemed oblivious to everything.

"Sarah?" Jules said to her, question in her voice.

Sarah blankly looked at the doctor before her.

"Since you and him have become such close friends since your arrival here, I think you should know his condition," she told the teenager, leading her away from the room.

"How bad is it?" she reluctantly asked.

"Well, he has a severely broken leg, shattered is more like it, a moderate concussion and some mild internal bleeding. He also has several scrapes and bruises, including the one he received earlier today from that fist," Jules told her with a sigh as Harriet walked over to them.

"It's all our fault. He's like this because of us, it's our fault," she said quietly to no one in particular.

The two doctors glanced at each other, confused before their stare came back to Sarah.

"What do you mean, it's your fault? You didn't do anything that could even indirectly cause this to happen to Doctor Kokoris," Harriet said.

"You won't understand, it's our fault. Now if would please excuse me now, I'm suddenly not feeling well," Sarah told them before walking past them and out of the room.

Harriet looked at Jules as if to say 'what just happened?' Jules shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'your guess is as good as mine.'

0000

The next morning, Sarah headed towards the restaurant to eat breakfast when she ran into Henry again. She gasped as she slowly, and nervously, backed away from him.

"What do you want?" she quietly asked him.

"I want you to come like you're supposed to. I don't want you here nor your brother," the man coldly replied.

She snorted and shook her head furiously. He tried pulling away but Henry wasn't letting him.

"What? You don't want to join me? Well, too bad. You will be sooner or later," he told her before leaving.

Sarah watched him go when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gave a small yelp of fear as she turned to see it was Jackie and Matt.

"Hey what's wrong? We're not going to hurt you. After all, we did help both you and your brother the other day," Matt said.

"You're shivering all over. Is there something wrong?" asked Jackie, becoming worried.

Sarah shook her head, the terror still obvious on her face.

"No, everything's alright," she lied.

"Are you sure? You don't look alright. Remember, we're here if you need to talk to anyone," Jackie told her.

She nodded her head and walked away from them.

She walked into the room and looked over at Nick lying on the bed. She carefully walked over to him and sat next to him. She placed her chin in her hands and sighed, not knowing that Rae was quietly listening from the doorway.

"I'm sorry Doctor Kokoris that we got you into this mess," she told him. "You wouldn't be here right now in this bed, fighting for your life but we had no choice. We had to get away."

She stayed there for one moment more before heading over to her brother's bed. The unseen Rae became instantly curious to what she meant by that.

That night, around suppertime, Rae walked into the room and up to Nick's bed.

"How're you doing Nick? I mean, I know you can hear me, you just can't respond. Everybody here's doing their best for you," she told him quietly.

She gazed over the I.V. tubes going into his arm. She sighed as she stood back up and walked out the door. She met Harriet on the way out.

"Harriet, what are you doing here?" Rae gasped.

"Probably the same reason you are Rae. To see how Nick is doing. After all, he's my friend as well," Harriet replied with a smile.

Rae smiled with her before it all came to an abrupt end when they heard groaning and gasping coming from inside the room. They hurried in to find Nick breathing heavily, almost gasping, and shuddering a bit.

"We have to find out what's wrong before it gets worse," commented Harriet as they hurried up to him.

Rae put the stethoscope on Nick's chest as Harrriet put a glove on her hand and slightly opened Nick's mouth. She gasped.

"Harriet, what's wrong?" Rae asked cautiously.

"The back of his throat is red and sore and his tonsils are enlarged. That's probably the reason of his difficulty breathing," Harriet told her. "At least it looks like it from this angle."

Rae's eyes widened a bit.

"What else can go wrong?" she asked.

TBC...


	4. Some Good News and Realizations

Harriet managed to take another, better look at Nick's tonsils as Rae patiently stood behind her. 

"They are swollen, yes but they're not as bad as I first thought," Harriet told her.

Rae gave a sigh of relief.

"Though we have to keep a close eye on him. As you can see, he still has difficulty breathing and in much pain. That leg doesn't help too much," Harriet told him.

They heard a groan coming from the bed. The two looked to see Nick slightly open his eyes.

"What happened?" he quietly asked them.

"Nick, you're awake. You don't remember anything?" asked Harriet.

He tried to shake his head but it caused him to wince a little.

"You got ran over by a car yesterday evening. We're still trying to find out who was driving it and why they did it," Rae told him as she sat down by the bed.

"Throat sore. Bit hard to swallow," he said.

"It might be a mild case of strep throat. What a time to get it," Harriet quietly said.

"Well, he should get the proper medication if he does, right? I mean, it could help him fight it off," Rae suggested.

"Good idea. Nick, we need you to open your mouth as far as you can," Harriet said to him.

He did so and they checked his throat.

"So he's got a mild case of strep throat on top of all his injuries he's gotten already?" Matt asked.

"Apparently so. I just hope nothing else goes wrong. He's in bad enough shape as it is between this and almost getting killed," Rae told him as her gaze watched him walk back and forth in the room.

He continued for several more seconds, not a word passing between them until Matt decided to stop and face her.

"By the way, do you know how the kid's doing that came in a couple days ago?" he asked her.

She shook her head.

"Haven't heard anything lately," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Curiousity," he replied.

Sarah sat by her brother, asleep when Jules walked into the room looking for her. She smiled once she saw her. Jules walked over to the bed and gently shook her shoulder. Sarah woke up, seeming very tired.

"Sarah, how're you feeling today?" asked Jules.

"Fine. But tired...and worried," she replied, a bit groggy.

"About your brother, right?" asked the doctor.

The answer came in the form of a nodding head.

"Well come on. I've got some good news for you. Doctor Kokoris is awake and I thought you'd might like to see him. Possibly even keep him company for a bit," Jules suggested.

She laughed at the set of widened eyes in front of her.

"I thought you said he suffered a head injury," Sarah said curiously.

"He did. He awoke a bit sooner than anticipated and be warned. He'll still feel the effects of it though," Jules warned her.

They started to walk out the door when they heard a voice.

"Sarah," it came.

The two turned around to find Patrick staring at them, eyes slightly open.

"Patrick," gasped Sarah. "You're awake!"

She hurried back over to him as fast as she could and they hugged each other.

"Where am I?" he groggily asked.

"In the hospital. You both were in a serious car accident a couple days ago. Both of you were in rough shape when you arrived. You both received head injuries but you were the one with the worse bump to the head," Jules explained to him, knowing Sarah wouldn't have been able to tell him.

Patrick's eyes went from tired to immediate urgency, as if he realized something. He grabbed his sister's arm.

"Has he found us yet?" he asked her desperately.

"Yes, he has," she replied, nodding her head.

Jules narrowed her eyes at the statement, becoming slightly confused.

"Has who found you yet?" she wondered.

"The one man who wants us both dead," replied Patrick.

Jules gasped and hurried out of the room and down the hall.

00000

Letty was walking down the hall with Jackie, talking when they saw Jules walking towards them in a hurry. They stopped her.

"Whoa, Jules, where're you going in such a hurry?" asked Jackie.

"It's those two kids. You know, the brother and sister? I have reason to believe they're in danger from someone. Possibly the man who was here the other day," she replied.

"You mean the one who claimed to be their father? What makes you say it's him?" wondered Letty, glancing at Jackie, who also seemed confused.

"I don't know but we have to find them both some safe but indiscreet security, in case whoever decides to come back and get them, we can catch them," Jules told them.

She started to move her feet but was stopped but the two.

"We'll do this together. For them and Nick. No doubt that whoever's after them, ran Nick over last night," Jackie told her.

Jules calmed down a bit before listening to what they had to say.

Rae hurried down the hall, towards Nick's room when she was stopped by the three other women.

"We need to talk," Letty told her.

Rae went with them.

00000

"So you think Nick was definately a target last night when he got run over and you think these two kids are as well?" Rae asked her as she looked out the window.

"Yes. Patrick awoke earlier and he became scared, asked if 'he's' found them yet, Sarah said yes and he panicked. They both did actually. I asked why and he replied that the one man who wants them dead," Jules explained.

"Not one of us understands this at all right now. The police are hoping Nick can identify the driver and so are we. That's the only thing we have to go on right now," Jackie said.

"Though we have an idea of getting Nick to tell us if he saw the driver's face without going into a full scale investigation. We're planning to ask someone here at the hospital to ask him about it," Letty told her.

Rae thought for a moment.

"Sarah, maybe? He took a liking to her when he first saw her after she came in," Rae suggested.

The three glanced between each other.

"And that's exactly who we had in mind though not yet. Don't want to let Sarah know what we believe as of now," Jules said with a smile.

00000

"So you say this doctor here actually got run over by a car? Do they know who did it yet?" Patrick wondered.

"They don't know but you and I both know who did it and why. We have to be prepared for everything and anything now," Sarah replied.

Patrick nodded his head as he moved slightly in the bed.

"Yes, we do," he agreed.

"Pat, if it's alright with you, I'm going to visit Doctor Kokoris now. I just want to see how he's doing," Sarah told him.

"As long as you stay on your guard," Patrick warned her, his voice filled with worry.

Sarah nodded in reply as she headed of the room.

She walked down the hall. On the way, she met up with Rae.

"Hello Doctor Brennan," she said.

"Hello Sarah. Going to see Doctor Kokoris?" she asked.

Sarah gave a sheepish smile as her answer.

"Don't worry about it. It's our little secret," Rae told her jokingly.

Sarah laughed as they walked into the room. They gasped at what they found. A strange man towered over Nick. In his hand, was a syringe filled with a liquid.

TBC...


	5. The Truth Comes Out

Sarah screamed as the man suddenly turned around and looked at them. His fiery eyes stared at them but the rest of his face was covered with a bandana. Rae hurried to the door. 

"We need security in here!" she cried.

Sarah could nothing except stand there, hands over her mouth and slowly back away. She watched as the man drop the syringe into the mattress as he turned around. He menacingly headed towards her as she backed away from him. Sarah glanced at Nick, who was oblivious to all that was happening around him.

"Get away from me!" she cried as he grabbed her bad arm.

She cringed and smacked him right hard in the face. He dropped her arm and held onto his face. Rae hurried up to Sarah and pulled her back as the man stood there stunned. He growled and clenched his fist before trying to escape through the door.

Rae tried to stop him but was soon pushed out of the way as the man ran out of the room.

The two watched as the man was trying to be apprehended by the people there. He dodged by them and soon fled out the door.

"Maybe he'll get captured on the way downstairs," Rae quietly said to herself as she hurried up to Nick.

She gasped as she looked at the syringe. She looked at Nick and her widened. He seemed almost pale as he laid there motionless in the bed.

"We have to get him checked for any foreign substances. Maybe he managed to inject some into him before we arrived," she muttered to herself.

00000

Several minutes later, a few police officers were there. They asked questions of the nurses who were at the station, other witnesses and of Rae and Sarah. They took the syringe to examine for fingerprints and as evidence against the person if they found him. The mysterious man managed to elude the clutches of police and everybody else.

"Are you sure you didn't see his face?" asked one police officer.

Sarah shook her head as she was almost to tears.

"No, I didn't," she quietly replied.

"Alright, if you remember anything give us a call," she said as she walked away from the frightened teenager.

Sarah watched her leave, the tears falling down her face. Rae walked up to her once everything had calmed down.

"Sarah, I think you know what's going on. Now you and your brother have some explaining to do," Rae told her. "Now come on."

Rae led Sarah into a secluded room, where Patrick was already waiting in a wheelchair. He gazed up at them and sighed. Matt, Letty, Jackie, Harriet and Jules were already there with them. Jules closed the door behind them.

"Now we'd like you to tell us what is going on here. First, that man shows up the other day, demanding for both of you, resulting in Nick getting punched in the face that caused a black eye and some bleeding in his mouth. Then that same night, he gets run over by a car, resulting in severe injuries. Namely his leg. Just now, he's attacked in his hospital room by a strange man with a still unknown substance which we have no idea is in his system or not. Tell us now what you know," Jackie demanded.

The brother and sister looked at each other and sighed.

"My name is Patrick Smith. Sarah, here, actually is my sister. It's our father who's doing all this and our mother wants him to do it as much as he wants to. She wants us dealt with as badly as he does as they both hate us," Patrick angrily said, his arms crossed and looking away from them.

"So that man who was here really is your father?" Harriet asked.

The two sadly nodded.

"We ran away from home. We couldn't stand their abusive ways any longer. We would have gotten away too if it wasn't for the cat really running across the road and Patrick swerving to miss it. We ended up in here and this is where they found us," she explained.

"And it just so happens that our father is a_very_ stubborn man. If something's in his way, he gets rid of it before moving on. It just so happens that this Doctor Nicholas Kokoris is in his way of getting to us," Patrick explained to them.

The six gasped as they looked between each other.

"Do you think he'll come back after him?" asked Matt.

"Most definitely. Doctor Kokoris isn't out of the picture yet and he'll stop at nothing to get him out of it," Patrick replied.

"He won't stop until he has us," Sarah added.

"Oh my God," Letty said.

"We have to put security on Nick's room 24/7. I know that none of us wants to lose a good friend," Jackie said to them.

The others nodded.

00000

Sarah looked at Nick laying in the bed.

"I'm so sorry it has to be this way Doctor Kokoris. I really am," she whispered to him.

"It's not your fault Sarah. It's never been your fault," came a quiet voice.

Sarah looked to see Nick staring at her from the bed.

"You're awake!" she said, obviously surprised.

"Yes, I am. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he told her.

Sarah nodded sadly as Jackie and Letty walked into the room.

"Hey Nick, how're you doing?" asked Jackie.

"Good," he replied quietly.

"They're still trying to find the man who attacked you earlier," Letty told him.

"I hope they do," he said as he gave a cough.

"Now I think we'd better let you get some rest," Jackie told him putting a hand on his arm.

He nodded just before they left. He closed his eyes.

Just before Sarah left the room, she looked back at him.

Nick watched them leave. He closed his eyes and winced in pain.

_'I hope they catch the people who caused all this pain and suffering,'_ he thought. _'I don't want a maniac on my tail for the rest of my life.'_

He slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

00000

The two doctors looked at Sarah once they got outside.

"Sarah, how soon do you think your father will come after you and your brother or even Nick?" asked Letty.

"Anytime now. He's stubborn when he has to get something out of his way and he's quick about it too," she replied before walking down the hall.

Jackie began to think about what they found out earlier from the siblings.

"Jackie, what are you thinking?" Letty asked cautiously.

"Nothing much. Just the beginnings of an idea on how to save those two and Nick if the jerk doesn't decide to come back on his own," Jackie replied with a smile.

Letty smiled with her.

Rae and Harriet waited patiently as the sample of blood Rae took from Nick was being studied. the people in the lab were told them to look for anything out of the ordinary.

Rae was walking back and forth in her office as Harriet looked on.

"Don't worry yourself Rae. They know to come and tell us once they get the tests finished," Harriet reassured her.

"I know, I know. That's not what's worrying me," she replied.

"What is then?" wondered Harriet.

Rae was about to answer her when a knock came to the door.

"Come in," she called out.

A young man walked in through the door.

"We have the results from the blood sample you gave us," he said,

"Well, what are they?" asked Rae.

"The results came back negative in all aspects," he replied.

Rae sighed with relief as did Harriet.

"Good. Thanks a lot for doing it so quickly. Now we don't have to worry," she thanked him.

He left the room as Rae turned around to do some paperwork.

"Now we don't have to worry about anything in his system," Harriet told Rae.

"No, we don't," replied a thankful Rae.

There was silence in the room between the two until they heard the door open and neither bothered to look back.

"How can we help you?" Rae asked.

"By leading me to the man who keeps me from my children," came an unfamiliar voice.

Rae and Harriet slowly raised their heads and looked towards the door.

There stood the same man who was in Nick's room.

TBC...


	6. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

"What do you want?" demanded Harriet. 

"I want the doctor that dares get in my way. Take me to him!" the man replied as he pulled out a gun from in his jacket.

"I would've thought you would have waited to come back," Rae told him.

The man shook his head.

"No, the police would think that I'd wait to do that again. Instead, I'm taking the direct apporach, swiftly and easily. Now take me to him! Or else you will see even more dead among yourselves because you're helping him and my children!" he yelled at the two.

The two walked out of the room with the man following them. On the way, he placed his gun back into his jacket as to not draw attention to himself as a woman walked up beside him.

00000

Nick awoke with a cold sweat on his face. He looked from side to side. He saw that nobody was there. Seeing that, he laid his sore head back down on the pillow. Everything seemed to hurt from his head to his leg.

"Nick?" came a questioning voice.

Nick looked at the door to see Rae and Harriet standing nervously in the doorway.

"What's wrong?" he quietly asked them.

"We're what's wrong," came an angry voice.

Nick's eyes widened as he pushed himself up to his elbows to see a man closing in on him and a woman keeping an eye on Harriet and Rae.

"You will pay for this dearly. I will get what's mine," the man said as he reached into his jacket to grab the gun.

Only to find it wasn't there.

"No, you will pay for this. You taught us too well for your own good. Now your own tricks are being used against you," came a voice.

The man twirled around to see Sarah at the door, holding his gun in her hands.

"Get away from him Henry," she coldly said.

The man laughed at her.

"What are you going to do if I don't? Shoot me? Besides, your fingerprints will be all over the weapon now, not mine," he said with a laugh.

"No, they won't. Yours will be though. I kind of borrowed a pair of gloves from here at the hospital. I think it's a good thing they didn't ask why I needed them," Sarah said with a smile.

"Sarah, what are you doing?" asked Harriet through gritted teeth.

Rae nodded in agreement, both hers and Harriet's eyes were wide in anticipation..

"Doing something my brother and I should have done years ago. Done something about this man," she replied as her brother walked into the room behind her, also wielding a gun.

The two doctors got out of the line of fire as the two guns were aimed at the man, who held up his arms. He slowly took off his bandana to reveal Henry, the man who showed up at the hospital the day after the accident.

"I taught you two really well. Though you'll never get away with this. Who do you think they'll believe? Me or you?" he snarled at them.

"Us, of course. They'll have to realize that something's wrong when the kids have to resort to violence and they despise their parents enough to leave home at such an early age," Patrick replied, advancing towards the man.

Henry ran around Nick's bed and pulled out a knife from an inside pocket,placing it against NIck's throat.

"Get any closer and I'll finish the job here and now," he warned them.

Hannah, the woman who joined them, took her gaze off the two doctors to watch the scene, allowing Harriet to quietly get out of the room.

The brother and sister stopped and looked at each other. Sarah looked back at Nick, who was innocent of any crime expect talking to her.

"Should've seen the knife Pat but I didn't. Got the gun, had no time to get or see anything else," Sarah sighed.

"It's not your fault," Patrick replied. "I think you did really good to get what you did because of the condition your wrists are in."

"Give it up Sarah. It's not worth it," Nick managed to tell her.

"No, I won't. We won't see anymore suffering by the hands of this man any longer. We have for years and you won't die now because of him," she said.

"You can't defeat me. You're a pitiful teenager and so is your brother. You were the perfect pawns. You were easy to manipulate at such a tender age. Too bad you were against it all along. Don't know where you got it from," he said.

"What? A conscience? Good, you're left out of the picture for once. Your abusive ways were too much for us and you should be in jail right now and we have a feeling you will be soon enough," Patrick said.

"Only if they catch me dear Patrick. Only if they catch me," Henry smiled.

Matt and Jules ran to the door to see the scene, thanks to Harriet managing to warn somebody about the situation.

"Oh my God," he said as a few police officers that stayed behind ran up behind him.

"Drop the weapons, all of you!" cried one of the officers.

The three did nothing for a moment until Patrick gave up his weapon to the police.

That left Sarah and Henry, who still had his knife to Nick's throat.

"Drop it now or else see your friend here die," Henry warned her, putting the knife even closer to Nick's throat.

Nick froze as he did so before he felt a wave of nausea and pain swarm around in his head.

Sarah kept the gun raised for a few more moments before lowering it to the ground.

"There. Is that what you wanted Henry? Are you happy now?" she snarled at him.

"Sarah," Patrick told her.

Henry laughed at them as he slowly put down his knife and Sarah and Patrick ran over to Nick. Sadness and fear were in her eyes.

"The question is are you two happy now?" he asked them as he put his arm behind his back.

The police reached for their guns as Henry pulled out another gun and aimed it right at the teenagers. Nick glanced at him before shielding them as the gun went off.

TBC...


	7. Court Date and Unexpected Tidings

Nick cried out in pain as the bullet embedded itself into his shoulder. The police ran over to apprehend Henry. They struggled with him as they forced him to the ground. Matt and Harriet hurried up to Nick as he laid there, holding his bleeding shoulder. 

"We have to stop the bleeding," Matt said.

Harriet nodded in agreement as Sarah and Patrick stood back, watching.

"I hope he'll be alright," Sarah whispered to Patrick.

"He will Sarah, he will. I know it," Patrick replied quietly.

Harriet moved the cloth from around the wound only to see the blood spilling freely from it.

"Oh my Nick. Things only had to get worse for you," she whispered to herself.

Nick didn't hear her or anybody else as he fell into a deep sleep and they continued to stop the blood.

"Sarah, Patrick, get out for now. We'll let you know how he's doing later," Jules told them.

The two nodded and left the room.

"We have to see if we can get that bullet out of his shoulder," Harriet said.

"We will but first we have to get the bleeding under control. It coming out like an I don't know what," Matt muttered.

00000

A little while later, Nick slept a painful sleep as Jules and Letty walked into the room.

"Wish I could make the pain go away," Letty said with a sigh.

"So do I but we both know we can't. He'll be off his feet until he's all better which we both know will be several weeks with that leg in the condition it's in," Jules replied. "Now let's let him sleep. He deserves it."

Letty stayed behind for one moment more as Jules walked out of the room.

Nick woke up to seeing Rae hovering above him. He blinked his eyes as he put his hand up to his face.

"Good, you're awake. How're you feeling?" she asked him.

"I've been better. How're those two doing?" he wondered, his voice sounding quiet.

"Still a bit shaken up from last night but fine," she replied. "Right now, he's in bed and she's with him. I think they're a bit worried about what's going to happen now."

Nick stared at her, seeming a bit confused.

"Nick, their parents are in jail and they're probably going to stay there for a long time. We're not sure yet. The trial's not for a few days. They can't take care of themselves very well. Sure, he's 18 but where are they going to go? They have no home to go to and they've got no other family around here to stay with so unless someone they know takes them in, she, at least, is going to be taken a foster home until she's old enough to take care of herself," Rae explained to him. "We don't evrn know where he's going yet."

"Wish there was something we could do for them," sighed Nick.

"I agree 100 percent," replied Rae.

00000

"Pat, where are we going to go?" asked Sarah.

"I'm not sure Sarah. The only thing I really hope is that we're not separated. I know we will be though. These types of stories never have good endings. You'll be carted off somewhere miles away from here to a family who you will hate and I don't even know where I'll end up," Patrick told her.

Sarah nodded, her face filled with sadness.

"I don't doubt it bro. I don't know how much longer we'll be together so we'd better enjoy it," Sarah replied.

00000

Several days later, Henry and Hannah Smith stood before the judge. He quietly looked at his papers before his stare came to them.

"Henry Smith, the charges against you are serious. Attempted murder on two different occasions, child abuse and drug dealing. How do you plead?" he asked.

"Not guilty," replied Henry.

"And Hannah Smith, the charges against you are just as bad. Also, child abuse, drug dealing. Then there's aiding a more known felon. How do you plead?" he asked her.

"Not guilty," she replied.

"Of course, there's the witnesses at the hospital from the other night. I cannot say you are innocent in any way when they say otherwise. Besides, then there's the children. I can't go against them either when their story's the same as the other. Sentencing will be a few days," the judge told them as he lifted his gavel and slammed it down.

The two were led out of the courtroom.

Rae, Letty and Jules sat at the back of the room, watching the entire thing. They glanced at the two as they went by them.

"That's the understatement of the century," said Letty. "I mean them not being guilty. Imagine them not thinking they're guilty of forcing a child to do something against their will and teaching them to do criminal acts. Besides the physical abuse, of course."

"You got that right," agreed Jules. "I just can't wait until we see what the judge decides what to do with them."

The other two nodded in agreement.

00000

A few days later, the same three were in the back with Sarah and Patrick, who managed to make it there on his own two feet. They begged and pleaded to go watched the trial and see what happened to their abusive parents.

Sarah sat quietly, her fingers interlocked with each other as Patrick sat next to her, trying to sit comfortably.

"When will it start?" she whined.

"Soon, Sarah, soon," Patrick told her.

Soon enough, everybody there climbed to their feet as the two were brought into the courtroom.

"Henry Smith, you have been found guilty of attempted murder, child abuse and drug dealing. Your sentence is 25 years in jail without the possibility of parole. Hannah Smith, you have been found guilty of aiding a known felon, child abuse and drug dealing. Your sentence is 20 years in jail without the possibility of parole, case dismissed," the judge told the crowd.

The three doctors in the back smiled with joy as it was said as was the brother and sister.

"They won't be bothering us for a while," smiled Patrick. "But we all know that'll you be taken away from me now Sarah. I don't want that."

He hugged his sister as a man and a woman walked up to them.

"Patrick and Sarah Smith?" the man asked them

The two looked at them and cautiously nodded their heads.

"Could you come with us please?" the woman asked them.

The two looked at each other before following them. The doctors stayed where they were and watched them with smiles on their faces.

In the hallway, the two were getting more confused by the second.

"Where are you taking us?" demanded Patrick.

"To the one place where both of you need to go. Your new home," he replied.

"Great. Just great. Off to some family who we're going to hate and wish for someplace else," mumbled Patrick.

The man and woman smiled at each other, the teens not seeing it.

Both Patrick and Sarah followed the two towards the lobby. There, they saw Nick, sitting patiently in a wheelchair with Matt behind him.

"What's this all about?" wondered Sarah, sounding a bit confused.

"What's going on is that Doctor Nicholas Kokoris here has decided to become your legal guardian. He's adopted you," the woman told them as she faced them. "Both of you."

TBC...


	8. Adopted and Loving it

The eyes of both teens appeared to be coming out of their sockets and their mouths were almost to the ground. 

"You - you mean we're actually going to be in the same house? Together? By the same doctor that helped us?" asked Patrick, still not believing it.

"You have got to be kidding us," Sarah protested.

"No, I'm not. I really want to help you. If not for me, you can always be separated, with someone you don't trust or even like," Nick told them.

The brother and sister looked at each other.

"He did help us when Henry and Hannah were after us. He's the only one who bothered to help us ever," Sarah said to her brother.

He nodded as they looked back at the doctors.

"Alright, we like it. Of course we'll stay with you. We really appreciate it," Patrick said with a huge smile on his face.

He grew so happy that he put his arms around his sister and lifted her off the ground as she hugged him. He soon let her down and walked over to Nick and they both hugged him. He was slightly surprised. They were being mindful of his injuries for one thing and how they were thanking him for another.

"Thanks Doctor Kokoris," Sarah said.

Nick gave a small laugh.

"You don't need to call me that anymore," he told them.

"Alright Nick, if you don't mind us calling you that," Patrick said with a certain slyness in his voice.

"If you want to though it'll take some time for me to get used to," replied Nick.

Matt, Rae, Jules and Letty gave each other a secret smile as she watched them.

"I never expected Nicholas Kokoris to have kids, adopted or otherwise," Rae whispered to herself.

"Did you say something?" asked Letty.

Rae shook her head.

"No, nothing. Important," she replied.

Matt watched her as he shook his head.

00000

Sarah was walking out of school when a friend ran up behind her.

"Hey Sarah, what's the matter with you?" she asked as they stopped.

"What do you mean Jessica? I'm perfectly fine," replied Sarah.

"That's the problem. Youwere neverfine. You were sad, now you're happy. First scared, now without a care in the world. What exactly happened during that absence of yours?" wondered Jessica.

"Hey Sarah, aren't you coming? We've got to get going or else I'll get yelled at for being late again," came a voice before Sarah could answer her friend.

The two looked to where the voice came from to see Nick waving at them as he leaned on his car. Sarah waved back at him.

"Sarah, who's that?" asked Jessica, obviously shocked as she pointed at him.

"That, my dear Jessica, is my new 'father'," Sarah said to her with a smile as she started off towards him.

Jessica watched her head towards the car and gave the man a hug, her mouth wide open before a smile appeared on her face.

"Sarah, so that's why your name was changed to Kokoris. You were adopted by someone. Should've known that. How dense can I get?" she whispered to herself.

Jessica shook her head before she turned around and headed for home.

The End

Author's Note-Especially have to thank Deana for being the ever faithful reviewer. Can't forget ShastenRothe either. Thank you all. I'll be back sooner or later. (Will probably be sooner rather than later knowing me.)


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